It’s sooo not Gallic! Fish and chips lead a cultural charge

Hop it with your frogs' legs, garçon, and let les rosbifs give you fish and chips on a plateJoe Mikos/Getty Images

The Continent has apparently long been cloaked in culinary darkness, unaware of the delights on the other side of the Channel.

Now there is a glimmer of gastronomic enlightenment: it takes the form of fish and chips.

Restaurants in Strasbourg, the city often described as the heartbeat of Europe, are ready to put the fried food on their menus as part of a wideranging British cultural festival. Diners will also be able to enjoy roast lamb and mint sauce, Yorkshire pudding, marmalade, Stilton, Cheddar, Bath Oliver biscuits and other British favourites.

True, not all the city’s chefs are prepared to take what for them is a plunge into the unknown. Indeed, only a handful have so far signed up.